Welcome to the Shroomery Message Board! You are experiencing a small sample of what the site has to offer. Please login or register to post messages and view our exclusive members-only content. You'll gain access to additional forums, file attachments, board customizations, encrypted private messages, and much more!

Educating illegal immigrants in public schools costs states at least $7.4 billion annually, according to a study by the Federation for American Immigration Reform that argues American children are being hurt by the drain on resources.
"Illegal immigration is no free lunch," said Dan Stein, executive director of FAIR. "It's about shifting burdens ? lowering labor costs at a tremendous cost not only to American taxpayers but to American kids."
California spends an estimated $2.2 billion annually ? more than any other state ? to educate illegal immigrant children. Texas and New York rank second and third, respectively.
The report's authors used the Urban Institute's estimate of 1.1 million illegal immigrant schoolchildren in the United States, then broke that down by state using the Census Bureau's estimate for illegal immigrants per state.
The costs are based on per-pupil averages and don't account for extra costs of providing English as a second language classes, nor do they account for disparities of per-pupil costs in different counties in a state.
Mr. Stein said the money used to pay for illegal immigrants' education should be used to meet the needs of children here legally, and the report detailed how individual states could use the money to offset current budget shortfalls.
Melissa Lazarin, education policy analyst at the National Council of La Raza, an advocacy group for Hispanic-Americans, said FAIR's estimate for illegal immigrant children is "really a very small slice" of the overall cost of education, which the Department of Education figures is more than $700 billion annually.
"We just don't feel this is something we should be quibbling over," she said. "We actually feel it behooves us to invest in the education of these children because we feel we have a much better return on this small investment.
"These are students that grew up in this country, that consider themselves American, that speak English, that have the persistence to go on to college, that want to give back to their communities," she said.
Jim Ferg-Cadima, legislative staff lawyer at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said the issue of immigrants' rights to education has been settled.
"Regardless of what the dollar figure is, these children have a right to an education," he said. "The issue was litigated all the way to the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court decided on the issue."
In the 1982 decision, Plyler v. Doe, the court said the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment means that if schools offer public education to any student they must offer it to all students. The court also ruled that students have no control over their immigration status and can't be punished for their parents' decisions to move illegally.
Mr. Stein said he believes the 5-4 decision was wrong, but beyond that it is being misinterpreted by many schools to justify shielding families of illegal immigrant students from detection.
The solution, he said, is for the federal government to enforce immigration laws.
Several states have sued the federal government to try to force it to pay for costs associated with illegal aliens, including education and incarceration. They argued that the federal government is responsible for failed border enforcement and immigration policies.
In 1999, the president of the school board in Anaheim, Calif., proposed sending a bill to Mexico for illegal immigrants who attended schools in the jurisdiction.
Hispanic activists and other opponents called the move political grandstanding and accused the school board president of racism. They filed dozens of lawsuits against him for violation of children's civil rights and misuse of tax dollars. The board did not pursue the policy after being told it violated international conventions.

--------------------You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for that my dear friend is the beginning of the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it. ~ Adrian Rogers

They must have gotten lost...don't they usually play canada the sucker instead? I remember one year where we had dozens of boats land full of imigrants, i think most were shipped home, but that doesn't stop the oriental women, who come here on visitor visa, have thier baby, then file for work visas, before trying to claim employment insurance...and later citizenship for themselves, then thier entire family back in the home country. It works both ways, many come here with lots of money they mysteriously find missing from fines, taxes etc..it a good business for our provincial economy...imigration that is....well for the ones with money......

America was founded by people who immigrated to the land and it has been that way ever since. While I don't agree with using tax payer dollars to fund this, I don't know if there are any simple solutions to the problem.

yeah, damn those people for seeking a better life. you people are sick in the mind.

--------------------The ultimate meaning of our being can only be fulfilled in the paradoxical leap beyond the tragic-demonic frustration. It is a leap from our side, but it is the self-surrendering presence of the Ground of Being from the other side.
- Paul Tillich

--------------------You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for that my dear friend is the beginning of the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it. ~ Adrian Rogers

--------------------The ultimate meaning of our being can only be fulfilled in the paradoxical leap beyond the tragic-demonic frustration. It is a leap from our side, but it is the self-surrendering presence of the Ground of Being from the other side.
- Paul Tillich

shut the fuck up. if you wheren't talking out of your ass (if you actually knew any illegals) then you'd know that "paco" is 10 times the human being that the average white guy is. lazy? yeah right.

--------------------The ultimate meaning of our being can only be fulfilled in the paradoxical leap beyond the tragic-demonic frustration. It is a leap from our side, but it is the self-surrendering presence of the Ground of Being from the other side.
- Paul Tillich

I never said lazy, if you actually read my post you wouldnt sound so much like an ass. And maybe since you seem to know and are friends with every race, creed, and type of person in america maybe you should run for president as you seem to know whats best for everyone.

And i live in south florida i know plenty of illegal dominicans, cubans and hatians so stfu when you dont know what your talking about and all you do is judge

you got one thing right: I'm the friend of all races... except whites who are proud of their heritage.

--------------------The ultimate meaning of our being can only be fulfilled in the paradoxical leap beyond the tragic-demonic frustration. It is a leap from our side, but it is the self-surrendering presence of the Ground of Being from the other side.
- Paul Tillich

--------------------The ultimate meaning of our being can only be fulfilled in the paradoxical leap beyond the tragic-demonic frustration. It is a leap from our side, but it is the self-surrendering presence of the Ground of Being from the other side.
- Paul Tillich

yeah, I lived in japan for a few months. I get along great with them. nice try though, it seems that you have at least a cursory understanding of hawaiian politics.

--------------------The ultimate meaning of our being can only be fulfilled in the paradoxical leap beyond the tragic-demonic frustration. It is a leap from our side, but it is the self-surrendering presence of the Ground of Being from the other side.
- Paul Tillich